Election Day

I have mostly resisted writing about politics these past months because I can't handle it. Not only have Republicans stymied Democrats (whose inexplicable razor-thin margins in the House and Senate make them vulnerable), they have benefited from a rogue, opportunist senator from West Virginia.

(Gosh, Joe. So relived the nation can suffer the effects of climate change so that the good citizens of West Virginia may remain employed. The greatest good for the greatest number, right?)

So yeah, the Republicans are winning the battle. Mitch McConnell, with an healthy assist from Manchin, has effectively blocked Biden's forward-thinking legislation addressing our nation's badly-neglected infrastructure, climate change and so much else.

Yay!

So I resist clawing my eyes out by ignoring it. By watching the local WNBA franchise take a title. By driving Porsche 911s on a race track. By taking a two-week road trip I can't afford.

But reality is like having kids. It's always there. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are no off days. And our current generation of Americans, not exactly suited to enduring things like COVID lockdowns and shortages and inflation, are angry and impatient. They want it to go away.

As do I.

But instead of reacting, we need to understand. Yes, the resumption of the normal we crave has been very slow in coming. But ask yourself why. Is it Joe Biden and his agenda or Republican resistance?

Again, Republicans have resisted virtually every public health measure intended to curb the COVID virus and eventually eliminate it. By delaying its containment and preventing its elimination, how is our economy ever to recover? How are we ever to resume our normal?

But Republicans don't really want our economy to recover. Not with a Democrat in the White House, anyway. They will stop at nothing to make Biden look weak, ineffective and clueless. And if you and yours suffer, well too fucking bad.

Sadly, many of the folks participating in polls that measure Biden's approval rating don't seem to realize this. In their ignorant, short-sighted opinion, Biden is screwing up and that's all there is to it.

He isn't struggling with in-house DINOS or wafer-thin majorities or a minority Speaker of the House eager to drive the car off the cliff to prove to his former high-school classmates that all these years later, he is a bad ass.

Can I be prom king? Will you invite me to your parties? Can I eat lunch with the cool kids?

Like his Democratic predecessor, Biden inherited a steaming heap of shit from the candidate he defeated. President forty-five did little but cultivate a bromance with Kim Jong-un and give billionaires and their corporations a big, giant tax cut.

It couldn't be more-obvious Biden has been tasked with a bit more.

So before we assign him and his party a single star on Yelp, can we please make the effort to appreciate the context? I'm aware the cost is our Instagram and YouTube time, but it might be really, really worthwhile going forward.

With solid Democratic majorities, we can at last begin to move forward. 

Vote Democratic, my friends. What's left of your futures depends on it. 

Georgia on Our Minds

As the struggle for America winds tighter and tighter, threatening to snap like a bridge cable, it was a welcome relief to see an entity as visible as Major League Baseball announce it would be siding with justice and equality by pulling its annual All-Star game from Atlanta in protest of the Georgia legislature's voting bill.

On one hand, Republicans have never been so transparent—or desperate. It's so nice to finally see their true motives on display. Long story short? They're exactly the venal, ghoulish sub-humans we've suspected them of being.

On the other, you can throw out that lip service about love of country and patriotism and God. Oh, and that shit about law and order, too. That is, unless we're talking about the new Republican law and order, which basically asserts 'thou shalt have no other party besides me'.

Yep. Their goal is absolute Republican rule. And even as they mimic them, let's not forget China is the embodiment of all that is evil.

Seriously?

Sorry, but 2021 Republicans present the biggest threat to democracy the United States has ever faced.

The most-ominous part of this legislation is the erosion of power held by the non-partisan election board and the handing over of that power to the partisan state legislature. As it stands, the Republican state legislature will wield total control over who interprets state election results and determines that election's validity.

Care to speculate about which elections would be judged valid? And which ones would not? 

“Bitch” McConnell maintains that no individual's ability to vote has been compromised and that the effects of the bill have been wildly overstated. And while your brain is on pause, kindly ignore that this legislation was enacted just months after a pair of Democratic victories in senatorial run-offs that handed a majority to Democrats.

Yeah, pure coincidence. Republicans wouldn't be working overtime to make sure that never happened again, would they?

If this bill is truly as harmless as McConnell paints it as, why has Ted Cruz become so defensive over the (very public) push-back, telling anyone who will listen that he and a cadre of Republican senators are working day and night to end Major League Baseball's anti-trust exemption?

Gosh. That seems like an even bigger over-reaction than Major League Baseball's, doesn't it, Ted?

I'm thinking Republicans are just really, really pissed-off that high-profile corporations like Coca-Cola, Delta, United Airlines and the aforementioned Major League Baseball see this legislation for what it is, and are outraged enough to go public with it.

On a lighter note, the Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn selected the following tweet as the funniest of the week ended 4/3/21. It is taken from the Book of Matthew, and like all great humor possesses a sharp sense of irony entirely appropriate to its subject:

"I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35. *Offer not valid in Georgia."

Kind of says it all, doesn't it? 

Thank you to the tweet's author @AIWashburn. Brilliant.

Fathoming the Unfathomable

Sadly, I haven't paid enough attention to the the mousy, thin-lipped man who occupies the position of Senate majority leader. But with a neon-lit asshole (with air horn) as president, I guess that might be understandable.

But make no mistake: Mitch McConnell is a monster. One every bit as toxic as his master.

In his party's mad scramble to solidify corporate control of the government, McConnell is its most faithful servant. While we once fought to unshackle the individual and bestow upon him (or her) liberty, twenty-first century Republicans seek to unshackle the corporation and bestow it with liberty.

(As long as generous amounts of campaign financing are offered in reciprocity, anyway.)

At present, McConnell is blocking a pandemic aid package because our corporations won't be exempted from legal action in the event they don't take the requisite steps to protect their employees.

Yep. You read that right.

McConnell is the twenty-first century version of Marie Antoinette, who infamously said “Let them eat cake!” when informed that her French subjects, who were on the verge of starvation owing to her regime's exorbitant taxation, weren't happy.

(To be clear, 'cake' at that time referred to bread. Antoinette was not suggesting a sumptuous array of fragrant, butter-infused French pastries for the unwashed masses.)

With the country starved of revenue owing to his bosses trillion-dollar giveaway to the one-percent, McConnell is playing hardball with those on the verge of hunger, homelessness and destitution.

It is a shame we as a society so quickly become inured to these kinds of acts and don't see them for the unvarnished cruelty they are.

I can't wait to see what kind of swill Republicans offer by way of explanation to their blue-collar, GED-holding base who will be among those kicked in the teeth first and foremost by this impasse.

Oh that's right. They drank the Kool-Aid. The question won't even be asked.

So while McConnell represents a state second in the nation for the amount of federal aid it receives per tax dollar paid, the rest of us clearly are not worthy. (Well, not unless we let our corporations off the hook from just about everything.)

But don't forget to vote Republican in the 2022 mid-terms and, um, take our country back.

Yeah.

 

What We Got

In the midst of a nine-day stretch of zero-sun days, there isn't much that could exacerbate the gloom. That is, except for Republicans.

Yes, the alpha dogs of greed, fraud and hypocrisy in our Senate have essentially acquitted the most-corrupt president in American history of virtually any and all wrongdoing. 

But in doing so, they have bestowed an unintentional gift upon us. They have shown us exactly who they are. Laid bare their agenda. No PR spin. No walking it back. No accusations of being misquoted by the so-called “liberal media”.

Just the naked, raw truth.

And it is this: these Republicans don't care. Not about the integrity of our government. Not about corruption or deceit or the rule of law. Not about air we breathe or the water we drink. They're not concerned about our health care or our social security or our lives.

(Unless you happen to be a fetus, in which case it is highly-unlikely you are reading this. But even that concern extends only to the end of the birth canal.)

What Senate Republicans care about is appeasing the emotionally and intellectually-stunted bully inhabiting the White House. Wielding control. Saving their jobs.

Not making Trumpy-bear mad.

The fifty-one cowards who maintained that Donald J. Trump did nothing wrong as they systematically denied their colleagues the chance to present witnesses and evidence are the low-water mark of our history.

When The Rise and Fall of the American Democracy is written rest assured they will have starring roles.

Tell me: if Donald did nothing wrong, why the anxiety over witnesses? Evidence? Why the organized obstruction? Why the unanswered subpoenas? The lies?

I know why. You know why. They know why.

The word doesn't exist that describes the moral apathy exhibited by these gutless and spineless sycophants. In a better world, Donald Trump would be lying prone at the base of his toilet—a half-finished Tweet unsent on his phone. 

Mitch McConnell, William Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Pompeo, Steven Mnuchin, Mick Mulvaney and Lindsey Graham (otherwise known as the offal that enables and sustains the Trump-whore) would be in prison.

Or asking if you'd like hot sauce with that at an open all night Taco Bell drive-through.

And the retards who voted for him would be prohibited from ever exercising that right again. Mostly on the grounds that they're, well, stupid.

Here's a list of the feeble fifty-one. Feel free to call, text or e-mail them with your thoughts.

Don't be shy.

And don't forget to vote with extreme prejudice come November.

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

John Barrasso (R-WY)

Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

Roy Blunt (R-MO)

John Boozman (R-AR)

Mike Braun (R-IN)

Richard Burr (R-NC)

Shelley Capito (R-WV)

Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Steve Daines (R-MT)

Michael Enzi (R-WY)

Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Cory Gardner (R-CO)

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Josh Hawley (R-MO)

John Hoeven (R-ND)

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)

James Inhofe (R-OK)

Ron Johnson (R-WI)

John Kennedy (R-LA)

James Lankford (R-OK)

Mike Lee (R-UT)

Kelly Loeffler (R-GA)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Martha McSally (R-AZ)

Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Rand Paul (R-KY)

David Perdue (R-GA)

Rob Portman (R-OH)

James Risch (R-ID)

Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Ben Sasse (R-NE)

Rick Scott (R-FL)

Tim Scott (R-SC)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

John Thune (R-SD)

Thom Tillis (R-NC)

Patrick Toomey (R-PA)

Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Todd Young (R-IN)

Again with the Hissy Fit, Lindsey?

My joy is transcendent and luminous. Watching the Trump administration implode in a series of puerile tantrums is a wondrous thing for which words barely suffice.

But even in days stuffed with the petulant antics of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, William Barr and Rudy Giuliani, one support player reliably steps forward and—however temporarily—steals the spotlight..

Yes, I speak of the senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham. Ol' Lindsey is never, ever shy about opening his mouth, and sometimes even thinks before doing so. Thankfully, that was not the case Thursday.

Graham again entertained the hell out of me by issuing an indignant hissy fit about the Democrats and their 'closed' impeachment inquiry. I mean, seriously Lindsey? You're in a snit because the Democrats did something without inviting you and your fellow Republicans along?

Aw. Hey--weren't you supposed to be giving Charles Koch a hand-job or something?

I guess those big, bad Democrats plum forget how open and transparent your boss and his henchmen have been. You know, the whole ignoring subpoenas thing and the obfuscation and the cover-ups and the lies and the threats.

And that picture of you posing with the posterboard explaining point by point how respectful Republicans were of Bill Clinton while they attempted to impeach him for lying about a blow job? 

Yeah. Sure. 

Sorry Lindsey, but I was alive in 1998. So were lots of other people. That was a political smear. Character assassination. A hatchet job. If that's the context for impeachment, what's appropriate for Donald Trump? 

A firing squad? 

Come on, Lindsey. I'm sure this plays really well at Fox for the high school drop-outs who thought it'd be fun to turn the federal government into a reality TV-styled source of entertainment.

But to the majority of us who didn't vote for the Trump-whore, it is clear you've spent far too long in the Republican whine cellar.

Sober up.

It's Time

I'm trying to gauge the pathos in a year with 298 mass shootings, especially when only 247 days of that year have passed. Any idiot capable of inhaling and exhaling without a prompt could see it for the horror it is.

But there are special kinds of idiots aligned with the NRA, and one of the most prominent is Mitch McConnell.

The witless lap dog of Donald Trump, the senator from Kentucky resembles not so much a freely-elected representative to the United States Senate, but actor Lincoln Perry's Stephin Fetchit character, a bumbling, eternally fearful man terrified of upsetting the boss man.

Like Perry's character, McConnell is scared shitless of his boss. That's why he makes no statements without first clearing them with the Trump-whore.

After Wal-Mart grew a pair and decided to apply even a moderate amount of pressure to the gun-control brake pedal by refusing to sell ammunition for assault weapons and hand guns, Mitch couldn't comment. “Oh no. I have to check and see with the boss first.”

Translated, this means I need to know what he thinks before I know what I think.

Of course the NRA, in its time-honored myopic fashion, lambasted Wal-Mart for caving to the so-called gun control 'elites' and potentially compromising the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Gosh.

Is there anyone among us—anyone at all—who believes that tens of thousands should be fatally shot or wounded every year in service of the Second Amendment?

That's what I thought.

The NRA opposes each and every piece of gun-control legislation, no matter how sensible or respectful it is of “law-abiding” gun owners. The NRA's vocabulary consists of but a single word: no.

And for decades, we have accepted that.

What we have to show for our compliance is a country with more guns than people. A country where the paranoid, the disenfranchised and the mentally ill can amass weapons stores capable of hideous acts of mass murder. A country where anyone is able to buy any kind of gun they want because anything less is a violation of the NRA's interpretation of the Second Amendment.

It's time for the rest of us to land a gut punch to the NRA.

In the early-nineteen-eighties, when drunk driving became a recognized social problem, legislators didn't hem and haw about pending legislation, fearful of reprisals from liquor manufacturers and their lobbyists.

No. They went ahead and did the morally-responsible thing. In the face of a mounting public slaughter, they increased awareness of the toxic effects of drinking and driving and dramatically increased the penalties for those who continued to violate drunk driving statutes.

No one gave a second thought to the impact on “law-abiding” drinkers. Simply put, the greater good was served.

That isn't the case with gun violence. The NRA has made it crystal clear they are comfortable with any amount of collateral damage, so long as the rights of “law-abiding” gun owners are protected.

I cannot overstate this: the NRA refuses any and all efforts at gun reform. In other words, they are okay with Odessa and El Paso and Dayton and Gilroy. You get that, right?

This is why Democrats need to stop playing nice. They need to stop being respectful of “law-abiding” gun owners and act on the realities of 2019 America.

America is a shooting gallery. A place where anyone—no matter the state of their mental health or personal inclinations—can buy an assault weapon and wage war on whoever happens to be around.

And again—the NRA is fine with that.

Can't get laid? Got fired? Spouse got custody of the kids? Thanks to the NRA, you can go out and purchase an assault weapon and seek (real or imagined) revenge with no more effort than squeezing a trigger.

And again—the NRA is fine with that.

Is it okay with you?

Representatives and Senators are refereed to as elected representation because they are elected to represent people from a specific geographic area. It is presumed they will act on the wishes of that electorate. And yet, I don't recall the electorate expressing a preference for inaction on gun control in a very, very long time, if ever.

And yet that is exactly what we have.

A two-thirds majority has consistently desired stronger gun-control legislation and deeper background checks in the face of our mounting carnage. But the NRA's hold on Republicans is stronger than ours.

Let's be clear: if you vote Republican, you are endorsing gun violence.

Vote Democrat, and perhaps one of these options might see the light of day:

Repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. When gun manufacturers are held accountable for the carnage they enable, I'm guessing they'll develop a sudden interest in developing safer weapons and meeting gun-safety activists half-way than hiding behind the sneering petulance of the NRA.

Tax guns and ammunition the way we do alcohol and tobacco. We now understand the latter two are responsible for an inordinate amount of public expense due to the destructive and easily abused nature of these products.

Guns are no different. Let users pay for the carnage that goes hand in hand with our over-abundance of firearms.

Let's mount a gun buyback. This would be hideously expensive due to a quarter-century of Republican largesse, but it was hugely successful in Australia, and as a result suicides and fatal domestic disputes dropped dramatically.

Of course, Australia isn't burdened by the likes of the NRA, who would no doubt oppose a drop in suicides and fatal domestic disputes.

We've done it the Republican (er, NRA) way. This is what we have as a result. We really need to try something different, like steering around the iceberg.

Republicans prefer an 'A' from the National Rifle Association over your safety and your entirely-reasonable desire not to die while attending a concert, a festival, school, church or work. Or while sitting on your porch, in a parked car or while waiting for a bus.

We can cut off the head of the gun monster and begin to work back towards making America a safer place to live.

Or we can vote Republican.

Streaming Thoughts

I’m stuck. I start a post, and after a paragraph or two lose all focus and sense of direction.

Doesn’t matter if it’s about Mitch McConnell and John McCain and the remarkable athletic ability they display while leaping from one position to another, the especially fine Dylan bootleg I downloaded last week or my ongoing unemployment.

My posts just sputter to a stop like a car out of gas.

And that’s another topic: rising gas prices. Where’s the deflation economists were so worried about last year? Demand remains flat, the non-Wall Street economy is still on life support, yet gas prices continue to rise. Why isn’t the dynamic of supply and demand coming into play?

Did it pull a groin or something?

I thought the gravity of low demand kept prices down. Is everything we learned in Economics 101 wrong?

Then there’s the pending reform of Wall Street.

I’m not holding my breath, and neither should you. Like our recent health care reform, the financial re-do will be gentle. Corporate-friendly. It will be faint like the light from a distant star.

Despite the valiant efforts of people like Elizabeth Warren, there’s just too much campaign cash at stake. Too many golf junkets. Too many days to turn into Christmas for our pocket-stuffing congressional representation.

Ironic that the public has no choice but to ask the town drunk to watch the liquor cabinet, isn’t it?

Despite the questionable covers and reportage on personalities like Justin Bieber that make me feel like I wandered into a copy of Young Miss, Rolling Stone continues to do an excellent job of reporting on the farce that passes for governance in the United States of Whatever.

And it doesn’t matter from which side of the aisle the farce originates; Democrats and Republicans alike are stripped of pomp and PR when deserving. Matt Taibbi’s writing deserves Pulitzers.

Considering the subject matter, he must take a lot of showers.

Oh yeah. And then there’s the Dylan show. Re-invigorated by a near-fatal bout with pericarditis and the release of the stellar Time Out of Mind, Dylan is in prime form here.

His is one of a handful of voices actually enhanced by age, not diminished by it. Its gravelly texture only adds resonance to songs of faded love and longing. And the band is expert; responsive, empathetic and supple, providing shading and sparks as needed.

Playing with arrangements, experimenting with phrasing, Dylan is one of rock music’s most challenging (on a bad night) and arresting (on a good one) performers. Here, at the Irving Plaza in New York City on the evening of December 8, 1997, he is very definitely one of the latter.

Sweet Jesus.

Finally, a shout-out to my friends whose music blogs have been snuffed out. It’s funny—now that I can’t download the music they shared I suddenly have the cash to purchase $16.99 CDs at the local big box store and support global giants like Sony and Universal and Bertelsmann.

Or so the powers that be must think.

Long live David. Death to Goliath.